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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2018
My Inter/Micro-84 presentation and subsequent article in The Microscope dealt with optimizing diffraction limited depth of field in photomacrography and is referenced by Brian Bracegirdle in his “Scientific Photomacrography. My analysis was based upon the classical solution for the diffraction pattern image of a point light source, using the Rayleigh criterion of resolution. H. Lou Gibson's method of treating combined diffraction and geometric blurring away from the object focal plane was used. The calculations and the experimental results indicated that a final print resolution, for the object focal plane, of 7 lines/mm (.29 mm Airy disk) gives an optimum balance of depth of field and resolution. The 7 lines/mm criterion is equivalent to an Abbe criterion of total magnification equal to 440 times the numerical aperture. The 500 times numerical aperture Abbe criterion recommended for microscopists with very acute vision corresponds to a maximum resolution of 6 lines/mm in the final image.